Improvement in knob-latches



iii-init ,i il E y l l| ASA. T. BROGKS, QF NEf BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT,ASSIGNOR TO RU SSELL AND ERVVIN MANUmscTmime COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent .N 92,152, dated July (i, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN KNOB-LATCHES.

The Sched'ule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all ch-ant it may concern Be it known that I, Asa T. BROOKS, of NewBritain, in the county ot' Hartford, and State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain new andusefid In'xprovements in LockingKnoblLat-chestand I do hereby declare that the 'following is a full,clear, and exactdescription thereof,l and ot' their mode or manner ofoperation, reference being had to the acconip-.niying drawings, and tothe letters ot' reference marked thereon, and making a part ot' thisspecification.

The nature oi' my invention or improvements in knobflatches consists iua peculiar construction of the latch, and in tht` arrangement andcombinatipn there with oi' mechanism, by which the latch is lochedwhenever it is sliot tn'ward or projects out of the'case, but whichlockingancchanism is displaced or moved by the act ot' shuttingr thedoor, so as to permitl 'they latch to move backward within the case.

lfigure 1 shows the position of the latch and the lockingqilate orlever, when the door is openi'the latch being locked.

Figure 5.! shows the position of' the locking-plate as raised by theknob-lever through the medium of the key-bar or knob, so' as to permitthe latch t'o be carried back and thel door opened. Y

Figure 3 is a detached view of the main latch, and the smallspring-latch within it from the top.

Figure 4 is a view oi' the main and snpplemental latch from the bot-tomor under side.

Figure 5 is a detached view oi' the stl'ikiuplat'e. Figure 6 is adetached view otl the lockingrplaie or lever. i

Figure. 7 is a view of the knob-lever.

Figures 8 and 9- represent the divided hub.|

rlhe main latch-A, which can be operated by the knob, as in otherknob-latches, is in its general shape and construction substantiallylike ordimnyllatchcs, and is thrown and kept linward in the positionshown in lig. i or within the striking-plate when the door `is shut, bymeans oi' thc spring l.

rihe loclii11g-mechanism, i'or locking or fastening such latch A, whenit is thrown forward by thellsfprin'g 1, consists oi'a plate .or lever,B, which lies pliiiia'lly hehind the plate c ot' thelatch A, and uponlthe inside oi' the case-plate C, and which turns uponla'pin or stud, l,projecting from such case-plate. Alll'illlsized representation ci' suchlocking-plate or levelglils shown in ng. o. l

.lu the irout end of the main latch A, is a liar oi' le` ver, c c',which forms a sort of supplemental latclnand which turns oul a pin, ci',in the main latch, andis given ich shown in ligs. l, 2, 25, that is,itsli'fn'ward ,sojecnng somewhat beyond the incliner lace ol' the mainlatch, by means oi'a spring, @shown in iig. 4, which is iixcd to thelunder side of the plate a. When n .such position, the inner end c ofsuch bar stands ont or projects from the under surface of the latchplate a, as shown by the dotted lines in ligs. l and 2, and more plainlyin 4, and furnishes a shoulder, against which the end of thelocking-plate B rests, when in the position shown in figs. l and 4.

On the front end of such locking-plate B are also two inclinedprojections, fj", between which lies a projection, y, on'thc undersideoi the latch-plate a.

The operation of the latch A audits lockingn1ech anism, is as follows:

When the door is open, the latch A is shot forward by the spring l, inthe position shown in figs. land 2, and the supplemental latch-bar c cis, by the action of itsspring e, given the position shown in 1 and 2,and the locking-plate B is behind the end c' oisuch supplementallatch-bar, being more certainly carried to such position by the actionof the spring 2. When the several parts are in such position, the latchA cannot be pushed back withn the case.

As the door is closed, the end c, of the latch-bar c c', first strikesagainst the lip h of the striking-plate D, andis forced back into andthrough the inclined end of thevmain latch, thereby carrying the innerend cih an opposite direction, or out into the slot 'i in thelatch-plate a, and away from the end oi' the lockingplate B. rlhis newposition of such bar c c' permits the latch A to move backward into thecase, as its inclined face comes in contact with the lip h of thestriking-plate, and as it is thus moved back, the projection q upon it,tig. 4, acts against the inclined projection j" on the locking-plate,and elevates the ti'ont end ot' such plate above Athe line of thelatch-bar c c',

into the position shown in tig. 2.

When the door is fully closed, the main latch Av is shot forward intothe recess k in the striking-plate D, bythe spring 1, and the latch-banccf is, by its spring e, again given the position shown in figs. l and 2,and the i'ront end of the locking-plate B is carried down by the spring2, behind the end c of the latch-bar, and the main latch thus locked.

A right-angled lip, Z, on the striking-plateD, and against which, whenthe door is closed, the latch A rests, as shown in iig. 3, prevents theend c, oi' the latch-bar c c', heilig pressed, by any means, down intoand through the inclined end ofthe. main'latch, so as to move the otherend awayl from or out of contact with the locking-plate B, and thusrender it possible to move the main latch back within the case.

The latch A is released from the locking-plate B by the action of thekey, so as to allow the door to be opened, in the following manner:

The 'rear end ot" the locking plate B is shaped as vshow n in lig. (i,andhas in its upperedge a recess, m, in

which rests a spur, n, ou the knob-lever E, the lowerend o of such leverlying over and extending below um end of the locking-plate B.

. Tb key being inserted vin the lock on the stem p, and ti rned, pressesagainst t-he bar q, which turns on a'pivot, fr, and carries such baralong until its end strikes against the lower ends of the knob-lever. Asthe key is further turned, such bar q moves backward the end o of the`knbh-lever, and carrying the point 0r spnr a out of the recess fm., andalong the upper edge'lcf the end-of the locking-plate B, presses downthatend, and consequently raises the other, or front end l) llsuchlocking-plate, above and away from the end c' of tpe latchlbar c c. Thelatch A is thus permitted to be moved back by the further movement ofthe key and knob-lever.

Asche first movement backward of the knob-lever, when actuated by thekey-burg, is required to elevate the front end of the locking-plate orlever B, there is a slot, s, in the latch-plate a, to allow the stud t,on

the knob-lever, to move hack far enough to suiciently elevatet-helocking-plate, before the stud ton the knoblever begins to 'act uponthe latch to carry it backward.

As soon as the 4latch is carried back ont of th'e striking-plate, so asto permit the door to be opened, the main latch is again forced out bythe springl, and thelocking-plate again falls down behind the end of thelatch-har c c', by the. action ofthe spring 2.

The drawing shows a series of guards, I", within the latcIraSe, whichare severally acted upon by dili'er- .ent parts or wards ot' the key,and in combination therewith a stem, u, on the key-bar q, so arrangedthat the latch cannot he moved by any key except by suclf "1. one asshall so place the several guards that the s em a can pass into arecess, c, in all of' such guardrrl before operating the knob-lever orlockingplatdgland such drawings also show a key-hole guard, G, wlych isso connected with the key-bar q, as to close ,the key-kole when the keyis turned; but these devicelfhthough adding security to the latchagainst beingI picked, do not vin any way a'cct the action ot' theilpkiugltneclmnism.

[all construction ot' the divided hub H is peculiar, oni epart orhalt'of' such .hub being provided with arms 3, to act upon theknob-lever E, instead ot' bothklpluts ofthe hub having arms', asgenerally heretutore1 constructed; The part ot' the. lmb thus turnisliedwitlln'arrns, is the inner portion, shown in tig.

8, or that with which the knob on the inside ofthe door is connected bymeans ofthe spindle, and conse- 'quently as such knob is turned, theknob-lever will be operated, and the locking-plate raised, and the latchdrawn back. The other or outer portion of the hub, tig. 9and with whichthe outside knob of the door is connected, rests upon and partly withinthe inner portion, in a sort of socket, shown in lig. 8, but can turn or.revolve freely in either direction upon such inner portion. 4 V

'.lhe spindle used is the ordinary swivel spindle..

As the outer part of the hub, tig. 9, has no arms, the outside knob canbe turned in either direction, and round and round, without/in anydegree affecting the latch, which can only be moved from without, bymeans of the key, while, from within, the latch can be drawn back', andthe door opened by means of the knob alone.

What I claimV asn'ny invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. Y'lhe combination, with the latch-bolt A and latchbar c c', arrangedas described, ofthe locking;r plate B, the several parts beingconstructed and operating substantially as described.

2. The arrangement of the projection g on the lockbolt A, and theprojections f fon the locking-plate B, substantially as and for thepurposes described.

3. The combination, with thc latch-bolt A, supplemental latch-bar c c',and locking-plate l, constructed and arranged as described, of theknob-lever and keybar q, substantially as and t'or the purposes setforth.

4 Inl combination with the latch-bolt A, haring within it thesulnilemental latch-bar c c', the arrangement ot' a strkingplate with arigl1t-auglcd lip, I, or its equivalent, substantially as and for thepurposes set t'orL-h.

5. In combination with the latch-bolt A and supplemental latch-bar c c',locking-plate B, and knob-lever E, the construction and arrangement ol'thc divided hub H, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

. ASA T. BROOKS. Witnesses M. J. WOODRUFF, M. S. Wmnn.

